Road to Communism

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Transcript of Road to Communism

The Road toCommunism Setting the Stage China was ripe for revolutionForeign countries controlled China's trade and economic resourcesMost believed that modernization and nationalism were the keys to survival Nationalists overthrow the Qing Dynasty Qing had ruled China since 1644In 1912 the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) lead by Sun Yixian (Sun Yatsen) overthrew the Qing DynastySun Yixian became President of the the Republic of China Sun Yixian Kuomintang Republic OPtimistic Start Chaos 3 Main Goals of Sun Yixian 1. Nationalism - an end to foreign control

2. Democracy - people's right to govern

3. Economic security - people's livelihood Sun Yixian lacked the military support and authority to gain national unity

Yuan Shikai, a military general, is given task of leading China. Leads as a dictator, not democratic leader

After Shikai's death, chaos follows. China turned to civil war between warlords. Millions suffered. weak leadershipcivil warterror of warlord armiesfaminenationwide protests spreadOutcome of WWI (on winning side, but got no reward) Problems facing Kuomintang China Communist Party of China Forms A group of Chinese intellectuals begin meeting in Beijing and Shanghai, among them is Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung)

Alliance is formedSun Yixian is also disillusioned with western democracy - he expected aid from the west he never receivedCommunists are gaining more and more support

1923 - Official alliance is made with the help of Soviet communists becomes Kuomintang leader after death of Yixian (1925)Initially worked together with communists to fight against powerful Chinese warlords, who still controlled much of the countryside.Once he got the warlords under control, Jiang sees the communists as his new enemy. Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) Why turn against the communists?

Against communist economic policies and beliefsCommunism advocates:concentration of power in party leaders (against democratic ideals)support of lower and middle classes by upper class (rich would lose money and property) Nationalists Consolidate Power Jiang uses nationalist troops and hired armed gangs to hunt down communists and union members.Wipes out main communist areas (Shanghai Massacre), survivors are forced into hiding. Mao Leads the Communists in Rural China Effects on the Chinese people? Communism was becoming very popular in rural ChinaCommunists promised land reform (equal land for all peasants)Jiang's government proved to be corrupt and un-democratic

So Mao and the surviving communists took to the hillsidesrecruited an army and trained them in guerilla warfareguerilla warfare = small-scale, drawn-out fighting tactics The Long March 1933 - Jieshi gathered an army of 700,000 to hunt down communists in their mountain strongholdoutnumbered communists 6:1

The communists were able to escape before they were surroundedNationalists chased after6000 miles (!!!) journey ending in northeastern Chinasmall battles were a daily occurence, but the communists were somehow able to consistently stay ahead of the nationalistsVery difficult terrain - many major rivers and mountainsApproximately 10-30,000 of the original 100,000 communists lived through the journey.Communists settled in northern China and regrouped for more civil war. Civil War VS Mao Tse-Tung & Communists Jiang Jieshi and Nationalists